To test associations between 11 parental discipline behaviors and child aggression, distraction, and prosocial peer relations across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Data came from the fourth (2009-2013) and fifth (2012-2017) rounds of the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS). Survey responses publicly available as of July 2020 were included. Data were restricted to household respondents with focal children under 5 years. The final analytic sample included 163,345 respondents across 60 LMICs. Data were analyzed using Bayesian multilevel logistic regression.
Figure 1: Locations of MICS Countries
Verbal reasoning (80%) and shouting (66%) were the most common parental discipline behaviors toward young children. Psychological and physical aggression were associated with higher child aggression and distraction. Verbal reasoning was associated with lower aggression (OR = 0.92, 95% CI [0.86, 0.99]) and higher prosocial peer relations (OR = 1.30, 95% CI [1.20, 1.42]).
Taking away privileges was associated with higher distraction (OR = 1.09, 95% CI [1.03, 1.15] and lower prosocial peer relations (OR = 0.92, 95% CI [0.87, 0.98]). Giving the child something else to do was associated with higher distraction (OR = 1.06, 95% CI [1.01, 1.12].
Random slopes suggested statistically credible cultural variation in the associations between parenting behaviors and child socio-emotional outcomes.
Figure 2: Association of Discipline with Child Outcomes
Psychological and physical aggression were disadvantageous for children’s socio-emotional development across countries.
Only verbal reasoning was associated with positive child socio-emotional development.
Greater emphasis should be dedicated to reducing parental use of psychological and physical aggression across cultural contexts.
For attribution, please cite this work as
Ward, et al. (2022, April 13). Associations Between 11 Forms of Discipline and Child Outcomes Across 60 Countries. Retrieved from https://agrogan1.github.io/
BibTeX citation
@misc{ward2022associations,
author = {Ward, Kaitlin P. and Grogan-Kaylor, Andrew and Lee, Shawna J. and Ma, Julie and Pace, Garrett T.},
title = {Associations Between 11 Forms of Discipline and Child Outcomes Across 60 Countries},
url = {https://agrogan1.github.io/},
year = {2022}
}